the garden journal

Setbacks, CRMC, the barrier rule and the building permit, plus an honest calendar from first sketch to first swim for a gunite pool in Newport County.

Balance, blow out, cover, and watch. How we close the gunite pools we build and service so they open blue in May, and what a careless closing costs.

The pool shell is rarely the biggest line. A Rhode Island pool builder on the five decisions that set the cost of a gunite pool, and how to steer them.

One plan, one crew, one person to call. What it means when the same studio draws and builds your pool, stone, wood and garden on Aquidneck Island.

How we design and build pergolas, timber pavilions, arbors, cedar gates, outdoor showers and fire pits on Aquidneck Island, in wood and stone that age well in salt air.

How we design and build rain gardens on Aquidneck Island so roof and terrace runoff soaks into the ground instead of the street, with native plants and local stone. Our rain garden at Marble House earned the 2026 Laurel Award for Horticulture.

What I would look for in a landscape designer in Newport, Middletown or Portsmouth: one idea for the pool, the stone, the wood and the garden, drawn and built by the same team.

The ocean edits every garden in Newport. How I design a coastal landscape on Aquidneck Island, Jamestown and Little Compton so it belongs on the shoreline.

A Newport gunite pool builder should be reading your land before drawing a pool. What I look at on every coastal property, and what to ask any builder before you sign.

Water, stone, wood and earth. How we design and build a coastal estate on Aquidneck Island, from the first walk of the land to the last plant in the ground.

After years of building pools in Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth, gunite is the only pool I will put my name on. Here is why, in plain terms.

Native plants, local stone and water that stays on the property. How we build landscapes on Aquidneck Island that support the coast instead of fighting it.

From the first walk of the property to the day you swim: how we design and build a gunite pool in Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth.

Outdoor rooms, boulder steps, fire pits, stone with wood and planting that softens everything: ideas from our recent projects around Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth.

A fountain, a rain garden, a spa or a gunite pool. How we bring water into a garden on Aquidneck Island so it feels natural and takes care of itself.

Fifteen years of designing and building gardens in Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth have taught me a few things. These are the ones I share with every client.

The best backyard projects in Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth are planned while the ground is still cold. What to do over the winter so the yard is ready in spring.

A walk in the woods, a stream that bends, a tree that leans. Why I look to nature first when I design a garden on Aquidneck Island.